If I do not feel happy about the acting in the film, of course I will say 'No'.

Anushka Sharma

Actress

In this edition of Beautiful People on CNBC-TV18, meet the talented, successful and very young, Anushka Sharma. Anushka has worked with some of the biggest filmmakers and biggest stars in India. Join Anushka explain how she makes her choices of films and negotiate this big competitive world of Bollywood.

Below is an edited transcript of the show on CNBC-TV18

Q: So how are you?

A: I feel normal. I am just happy that I am doing the kind of work that I have always wanted to do. The last time we spoke, I said that I would like my career to go in a certain way. I am happy to be back on your show talking just about that.

Q: You have worked and are currently working with incredible filmmakers. How do you pick the films you want to act in?

A: I think because the directors take their work so seriously, they always prefer to read out the script to an actor because it brings everyone in the film on the same page. I have just been lucky that each time I have been narrated a script, it sounded fantastic and I didn't have to ever raise an eyebrow to say 'Yes'.

Q: But would you be able to say 'No', if you genuinely felt that you weren’t upto the task or that you didn’t care for the story or theme?

A: Definitely. If I do not feel happy about the acting in the film, of course I will say 'No'. We shoot a film for six months sometimes even more and to be stuck in a space where you are not happy, just creates unhappiness for everyone around you. I would not want to do that to anybody.

Q: In 'Matru ki Bijli ka Mandola', how did you manage to enter the character of Bijli who has two different layers of tonality?

A: I assumed that the character of Bijli would be just vivacious and spunky. But when we started doing readings, I started to realise the character is extremely confused and a bit eccentric underneath. This is what excited me about the character of Bijli - a personality that was extremely contradictory.

Q: How much control can you exercise as an actor on a film? Is it just a case of 'beautiful girl sells the film'?

A: No, definitely not the latter.

Q: But the shot of you in skimpy attire is in the promo and on the poster. Do still believe that scantily-clad women are not used to sell Hindi films?

A: No, I don't think that is true, at least, not for this film. Vishal Bhardwaj is not the kind of director who use these kind of gimmicks to sell his films. Bijli wears skimpy attire because that's who she is. She is someone who likes to shock people.

Q: That explains the skimpy clothing?

A: Yes, that is her character. Just the way she is, the way she dresses, the tattoos that she has on her body, it is all just a loud cry - 'Look at me!'- because she is a neglected child. She has been neglected by her father. So that is who she is.

She will always stick out in the film because she was meant to stick out. When Vishal Bharadwaj told me about the character, he said she will always look odd in the film. She will always look like she does not belong in this world.

Honestly, I have never worked with people who have to use such tactics to try and sell their films.